capitalist versus socialist progress

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Brad:
>Except that North Korea today does not need "qualitative gains." Its
>people are eating tree bark, for God's sake.

The Guardian (London), July 30, 1996

KOREAN FLOODS COULD USHER IN NEW FAMINE

John Gittings

NORTH KOREA has been hit by torrential rains only a year after floods
devastated crops and brought millions close to starvation.

Officials in the capital Pyongyang have called for efforts "to prevent
damage from great flooding", saying that up to 20 inches of rain has fallen
over two days in parts of the country near the 38th parallel.

"Unexpected floods caused heavy losses of human lives," the official news
agency said yesterday, and "seriously damaged vast areas of the country."
More than 60 people have already died across the border in South Korea,
where towns and villages north of Seoul remained submerged under dark muddy
water yesterday.

The North's faltering economy was shaken by last year's floods, which led
to an unprecedented appeal for foreign aid. The latest rains have hit some
of the same areas as last year, including parts of the western rice belt in
North and South Hwanghae provinces. The port of Nampo and the border city
of Kaesong were also badly affected.

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===

THE KANSAS CITY STAR, October 20, 1999

Senators decry farming sanctions

BYLINE: DAVID GOLDSTEIN, The Kansas City Star

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of  legislators vowed Tuesday to
push harder on the  contentious issue of lifting  agricultural
sanctions, calling them a  "thoughtless" and "absurd" weapon  in
foreign policy.

Led by Republican  Sens.  John Ashcroft of Missouri and Chuck  Hagel
of Nebraska, the group told a press  conference that the trade embargo
on food and  medicine currently in place against six nations  is only
hurting American farmers, consumers and  poor people across the globe.

The  sanctions are against Cuba, Libya, North Korea,  Iran, Iraq
and Sudan. Democratic Sen. Byron  Dorgan of North Dakota said that
neither Cuban  leader Fidel Castro nor Libyan leader Moammar  Gadhafi
"ever missed a meal because of a U.S.  trade embargo. The only people
hurt by food  and medicine embargoes are poor people in  those
countries."

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Louis Proyect

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